PerformanceArchitecturesBusinessSecurityMonitoringCloud Browser
Single blog hero image

Should You Offer “Pay with AWS”? A Guide for Cloud-Native SaaS Vendors

The Silent Growth Killer: Friction in B2B SaaS Sales

If you’re selling cloud-native SaaS and still relying on credit card payments, manual invoicing, or custom procurement flows, you’re likely introducing silent friction that compounds as you scale.

Enterprise prospects might love your product. But their finance, security, and procurement teams often act as invisible gatekeepers. Their immediate question? "Can we buy this via AWS Marketplace?"

This isn’t a technical preference. It’s a signal of maturity in how companies manage procurement. For a growing SaaS business, ignoring this question means leaving revenue on the table. This guide cuts through the noise. You’ll learn when offering "Pay with AWS" is a smart move, how it works, and what to expect.

What Is "Pay with AWS"?

"Pay with AWS" enables your customers to purchase your SaaS product via AWS Marketplace and have it billed directly to their AWS account.

There are two primary models:

  • SaaS Contract — Offers fixed pricing tiers or custom private offers.

  • SaaS Metering — Enables granular, usage-based billing like per-user or per-API call.

You continue to host and operate the application. AWS simply becomes the billing channel, handling invoicing, collection, and remittance.

The key benefit isn’t just operational. It’s psychological. AWS is already a trusted vendor. If you’re part of their ecosystem, you inherit some of that trust.

"Think of AWS Marketplace as a B2B checkout button your customers already trust."

Why It Matters for Cloud-Native Startups

Startups in growth mode often focus intensely on product-market fit, user experience, and rapid iteration. But as you scale into enterprise deals, a new challenge emerges: internal complexity on the buyer's side.

You may have enthusiastic champions inside big accounts. But if their procurement workflows don’t align with your sales model, enthusiasm dies in process hell. Security reviews, new vendor forms, contract redlines — these delays don’t kill deals outright, they stall them indefinitely.

Offering "Pay with AWS" aligns your sales motion with your buyer’s procurement structure. It lets them:

  • Skip vendor onboarding

  • Route cost to existing AWS budgets

  • Stay within their governance frameworks

For you, it’s about speed, trust, and conversion.

Who Is a Good Fit for AWS Marketplace?

You shouldn’t list your product just because it’s possible. Marketplace works best when there's mutual alignment between how your product is sold and how your customers buy.

Vendor Fit

If you’re a B2B SaaS company delivering your product over the web, hosted in your own cloud infrastructure, and you offer standardized plans or consumption-based pricing, then AWS Marketplace likely fits your go-to-market strategy.

Customer Fit

The real unlock comes from understanding your buyers. Mid-market and enterprise customers using AWS often have committed annual spend (EDP) and complex approval workflows. If your deal slows down because of compliance or payment issues, Marketplace reduces that friction.

"If your buyer's first question is 'Are you in the AWS Marketplace?', you already have your answer."

Choosing the Right Delivery Option

AWS Marketplace supports multiple delivery models, but not all are equal for SaaS companies.

1. SaaS (Most Common)

This model is purpose-built for cloud-native vendors. Your software is hosted by you; AWS just handles the subscription and billing. Customers subscribe via Marketplace and get redirected to your onboarding flow. You validate their entitlement via AWS APIs.

This works well for:

  • Multi-tenant platforms

  • APIs and developer tools

  • Products that don’t need local deployment

2. AMI (Amazon Machine Image)

Some organizations require full control over data or infra. In such cases, you can deliver your app as a pre-packaged EC2 image that they run in their own account. You lose some usage visibility but gain compliance flexibility.

Useful for:

  • Healthcare or finance clients

  • Security appliances

  • Apps requiring low-level system access

3. Containers (EKS/ECS)

Ideal if your customers are already running Kubernetes and want to self-manage deployment. You provide container images and deployment templates. It’s cleaner than AMI but assumes customer maturity.

Useful for:

  • ML infrastructure

  • Stream processors

  • Observability stacks

Choosing poorly adds friction. If you’re unsure, start with SaaS Contract. You can always extend later.

When SaaS Billing Models Make or Break You
Don’t overthink your first step. Many teams obsess over metering integration too early. But unless you have real-time usage billing needs, start with a SaaS Contract model:

  • Simple to implement

  • Works for tiered pricing

  • Supports private deals

Once you hit product-market scale and need tighter monetization, move to SaaS Metering:

  • Supports usage-based revenue

  • Enables dynamic pricing

  • Requires metering API integration

The choice isn’t final. Start with what gets you live fastest.

Common Missteps (and How to Avoid Them)

AWS Marketplace isn’t hard, but treating it as a minor technical task is a mistake. The most common missteps we see:

Overengineering from Day One

Building for every pricing model up front delays launch. Nail one simple path.

Underestimating Non-Technical Work

Legal registration, tax forms, product descriptions, documentation—it’s not hard, but it’s not zero.

Not Integrating with GTM Strategy

Marketplace isn't just billing. It's a channel. Treat it like one.

"Your engineering team should build it. Your GTM team should own it."

What Are the Real Benefits?

These aren’t minor perks. AWS Marketplace helps you:

On the Customer Side:

  • Speed up procurement by 30-60% in enterprise sales

  • Reduce legal/security back-and-forth

  • Enable buyers to spend AWS credits

  • Avoid the new vendor onboarding queue

On Your Side:

  • Close larger deals faster

  • Reduce churn from friction-filled onboarding

  • Increase trust by riding AWS's credibility

  • Unlock AWS co-sell programs (ISV Accelerate)

For many of our clients, AWS Marketplace went from experiment to core revenue channel in under a year.

Tips to Win with AWS Marketplace

  • Start narrow — One region, one plan, one pricing model

  • Promote it clearly — Pricing page, sales enablement, outbound emails

  • Offer private deals — Custom contracts increase close rate

  • Measure it — Track leads and conversions from Marketplace

  • Work with AWS — Use their BD teams to co-sell

Our Take: When We Recommend This

We don’t push AWS Marketplace on everyone. But if your customers are asking for it, your deals are slowing down due to procurement, or you're trying to break into enterprise—it’s a no-brainer.

We help our clients:

  • Map product fit and choose delivery model

  • Handle entitlement and metering APIs

  • Navigate tax/legal/account setup

  • Align Marketplace with GTM and sales ops

Done right, it becomes more than billing. It’s pipeline.

Final Word: Treat AWS Marketplace Like a Growth Channel, Not Just a Billing Hack

AWS Marketplace isn’t about saving time on invoices. It’s about accelerating growth by reducing sales friction. It transforms sales conversations from procurement headaches into "yes, just subscribe."

If your SaaS is ready to scale, and your customers live on AWS, this might be your easiest channel unlock yet.

"If you treat AWS Marketplace like a checkbox, you’ll get checkbox results. Treat it like a channel, and it pays like one."

Related articles